The present invention relates to packages for smoking articles and a method for packaging and unpackaging smoking articles, such as filter cigarettes, and more particularly to a unique and aesthetically pleasing, tamperproof sliding shell package for cigarettes which can be further packaged in a paperboard box overwrapped with a polymeric film having a tear tape.
It has been known for many years to package cigarettes and other types of tobacco or smoking article products in thin sheet metal packages or boxes of a size suitable for carrying in a shirt or coat pocket. Such packages have been known as xe2x80x9ctobacco tinsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpocket tinsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctobacco cans.xe2x80x9d Typically, such cans or tins have a hinged top lid which is pivoted open to allow access to the can contents, or a sliding top lid which is slid along guides to one side or the other to allow access to the can contents, or a pressed-on top lid that is urged upwardly to remove it from the top of the can. A few examples of such known tobacco cans are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,341,295; 1,797,419; and 1,946,845. It is known that such metal cans or tins are better able to preserve the freshness of cigarettes and other tobacco products contained therein.
In recent years, manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products have packaged cigarettes in paper and paperboard wrappers and boxes and have used foil/paper laminates, metallized paper or plastic wrappers or low permeability transparent or metallized polymeric sheet overwraps, among other types of packaging, to preserve the freshness and aroma of the packaged cigarette and tobacco products. Examples of such packages are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,852,734; 5,139,140; and 5,542,529 assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Such packaging has become commonplace for most cigarette manufacturers so that, apart from strong brand names and trademarks, product packaging itself has not provided the sort of product differentiation in the marketplace for cigarettes that it has for other consumer products, many of which utilize unique forms of packaging for product differentiation or product origin purposes. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a cigarette package and a packaging method that would improve product differentiation of cigarettes in the marketplace and still achieve appropriate preservation of the freshness and aroma of the cigarettes.
The present invention is directed to a novel cigarette package article comprising a curved metal box or tray with a metal lid slidable along an arcuate path for containing a plurality of smoking articles, such as 20 filter cigarettes, in a tamperproof and freshness preserving manner, as well as a method of packaging and unpackaging the smoking articles. Conventionally, a filter cigarette package is in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having six sides or panels, wherein the xe2x80x9ctopxe2x80x9d of the package is that package side or panel toward which all of the filters of the filter cigarettes are oriented, and the xe2x80x9cbottomxe2x80x9d of the package is the side or panel opposite the xe2x80x9ctop.xe2x80x9d The xe2x80x9cfrontxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d of the typical conventional cigarette package are the two sides or panels of the greatest surface area, and the remaining two opposite sides or panels extend between and connect the front and back and the top and bottom. The package of the present invention will be described using the foregoing terms, namely, top and bottom, front and back and opposite sides or panels.
Although the package of the invention may be configured in a number of forms that are not specifically illustrated herein, a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a five-sided metal box or tray with an open front and a metal front lid that comprises a sixth side or panel of the tray with guides or tracks along two edges. The guides or tracks of the front lid are slidable along complementary guides or tracks on two edges of the metal tray to thereby open and close the open front of the metal tray. The bottom of the metal tray and the metal lid each have a curved or arcuate shape generally in the form of a segment of a cylinder, the radius of curvature of the bottom of the metal tray being somewhat smaller than the radius of curvature of the metal lid. Thus, when the metal lid is slid along the complementary guides relative to the metal tray, it moves along an arcuate path with a radius corresponding substantially to the radius of curvature of the metal lid.
The metal tray and lid are preferably formed of a thin metal, such as 1018 steel alloy or 3003 aluminum alloy, having an as-formed thickness of between about 0.005 to about 0.015 inches. The tray and lid have rounded comers and are preferably shallow drawn cans, but may be formed by other conventional metal working processes. The upper edges of the four upstanding sides of the tray are rolled over to form a smooth rolled lip around the entire periphery of the upper edge of the tray. This rolled lip advantageously eliminates any exposed sharp metal edges that might otherwise cut the consumer and also provides a track for slidably engaging a complementary rolled edge on three edges of the metal lid in substantial metal-to-metal contact. One edge of the lid and short portions of the adjacent lid edges are folded over and flattened to eliminate exposed sharp edges on the lid that could cut the consumer. The flattened portions of the lid preferably contact the rolled lip of the tray so that the lid engages the rolled lip in substantial metal-to-metal engagement around the entire periphery of the open front of the tray. The metal lid and/or metal tray may be embossed for decorative purposes or for providing additional stiffness to the metal tray or lid.
After the metal tray is filled with smoking articles, cigarettes, for example, and the lid is slid over the open front of the tray to close the same, a shrinkable band, preferably a heat-shrinkable polymeric band, is positioned around the engaged edges of the lid and tray and is shrunk, e.g., by application of heat, to urge the edges of the lid and the rolled lip of the tray in substantial sealing contact so as to aid in preserving the freshness and aroma of the cigarettes contained in the tray. The shrinkable band is preferably provided with one or more rows of transverse perforations or a tear strip for assisting in the removal of the band when it is desired to open the box.
The sealed metal cigarette box may be marketed as the final cigarette package, however, according to another aspect of the invention, the sealed metal cigarette box may be, and is preferably, further packaged in a paperboard box or label wrap overwrapped with a polymeric film, such as a transparent polypropylene film or a metallized polyethylene terephthalate film, and is provided with a tear tape for tearing off the overwrap film covering the paperboard box or label wrap. The paperboard box is preferably in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped with the front panel or lid thereof hinged at one side by a fold or crease line in the paperboard box. To enhance the attractiveness of the package when a transparent overwrap film is used, a portion of the lid of the paperboard box may be cut away to expose a portion of the curved metal box, preferably a portion of the metal lid of the box having a design or indicia embossed therein.
If the overwrap is a transparent polymeric film, the paperboard box is preferably printed with product indicia, logos and the like. If the overwrap is a metallized polymeric film, such as, for example, the overwrap film described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,235, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the printed product indicia, logos, etc., are preferably printed on the overwrap film and may or may not be duplicated on the paperboard box.
According to the method of the invention, a package comprising a curved metal tray containing a plurality of cigarettes is closed by a curved metal lid which is mechanically and slidably engaged to the metal tray. The metal lid is sealed in substantial metal-to-metal contact to the metal tray with a perforated shrinkable band, then the sealed metal box is packaged in a paperboard box overwrapped with a polymeric film having a tear tape. To open or unpackage the cigarettes in the metal box, the tear tape is used to tear the polymeric film away so that the metal box can be removed from the paperboard box. The shrinkable band is then ruptured along the perforations in the band and removed and the metal lid is slid along an arcuate path to open the front of the metal box and expose the cigarettes contained therein.